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‘Boston was born facing down bullies’: Michelle Wu has sharp words for Washington in State of the City address
“God bless our City, God bless our people, and God save whoever messes with Boston.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu delivered her 2025 State of the City Address from the MGM Music Hall Wednesday night, touting new initiatives and doubling down on her stance that Boston will not be intimidated by rhetoric from the Trump administration.
“No one tells Boston how to take care of our own,” Wu said as her speech began. “Not kings, and not presidents who think they are kings. Boston was born facing down bullies.”
The mayor’s defiant message to Washington came as she highlighted the city’s accomplishments. Those successes, she said, ranged from more than doubling city contracts with businesses owned by people of color, to the renovation of White Stadium, to building more than 11,000 new units of housing in the city. The mayor also unveiled several new initiatives.
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“To be a home for everyone, we must be the best city for families, and there’s more work to do,” Wu said.
Below, four takeaways from the mayor’s speech.
‘Boston stands up’ as national rhetoric escalates
The mayor did not mince words when it came to speaking about the moment in national politics the city and country are facing.
Boston, she stressed repeatedly throughout her speech, is a family.
“If you come for one of us, you will get all of us,” Wu said. “We are a city that knows our strength is each other: And we will defend the people we love with all that we’ve got. When the weight of the world presses down, Boston stands up.”
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Throughout her speech, as the mayor trumpeted the city’s strengths when it comes to safety and growth, she emphasized Boston has served as a leader across the country for tackling challenges “no one thought possible.”
And now, she said, the nation needs that leadership and strength from Boston, citing the Trump administration’s attacks on public servants, veterans, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, and research institutions.
The mayor repeated that Boston will not back down from standing up against those attacks, even appearing to reference a previous threat from President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan, who said he would “bring hell” to the city.
“Boston is the target in this fight for our future because we are the cradle of democracy, pioneers of the public good, the stewards and keepers of the American Dream,” Wu said. “We were built on the values this federal administration seeks to tear down. But for 395 years, come high water or hell — no matter who threatens to bring it — Boston has stood up for the people we love and the country we built. And we’re not stopping now.”
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Boston does not tolerate tyranny, the mayor said during the close of her speech, again stressing the city’s history of leading, standing up to pressure, and finding “strength in each other.”
“We will defend the people we love with all that we’ve got,” Wu said. “I couldn’t ask for more in a family. God bless our City, God bless our people, and God save whoever messes with Boston.”
A new program for co-purchasing multi-family homes
The mayor announced the launch of a Co-Purchasing Pilot Program, which is aimed at increasing access to affordable homeownership opportunities in the city for middle-income residents. The program will allow multiple households to combine their collective purchasing power to buy multi-family homes with 0% interest deferred loans from the city.
“In many homes—including my own—multi-generational families share the same roof,” Wu said. “Co-Purchasing can make buying a home more accessible, and make sharing meals and moments a built-in part of life.”
A new initiative to help homeowners lower energy costs
Wu formally announced during her speech the launch of a new city program that aims to help lower energy costs for residents by providing support for clean energy upgrades to homes and buildings. As part of the new Boston Energy Saver program, the city is partnering with Eversource, National Grid, and other nonprofit organizations to help residents access Mass Save financial incentives and credits to make the energy system upgrades.
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The agreement with Eversource and National Grid sets the goal of installing 5,000 heat pumps and weatherizing 10,000 buildings between 2025 and 2027, focusing on buildings heated by electric resistance and oil.
“The program will reduce energy cost burdens by helping low- and moderate-income households lower their energy bills through efficiency upgrades, improve affordability for small businesses and nonprofits by making energy solutions more accessible, and ensure a just transition by prioritizing communities historically burdened by high energy costs and environmental inequities,” Wu’s office said in a statement.
The mayor’s office estimates that $150 million in investments and incentives will be made to meet the goal, which officials believe will result in $300 million in benefits for residents over the next three years.
The program, which will launch in the fall, will be open to all buildings with a focus on those with fewer than 15 units and commercial or nonprofit spaces under 20,000 square feet.
“If you need new windows or an updated heating system, we’ll find every dollar available to get the job done,” Wu said.
An expansion of Boston Family Days
Wu also announced the city is expanding its Boston Family Days program, which gives students enrolled in grades K-12 or Boston Pre-K, along with up to two guests, free admission to cultural institutions — including the New England Aquarium, the Museum of Science, and the Franklin Park Zoo — around the city on the first and second Sunday of each month.
The program is being expanded to include performances at seven performing arts venues in the city: Arts Emerson, The Boston Ballet, The Boch Center, The Huntington Theatre, the Boston Lyric Opera, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and The Wheelock Family Theatre at Boston University.
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Beginning in April every student enrolled in grades K-12 or Boston Pre-K will get free admission with up to two guests at three historical museums: the Paul Revere House, Old North Illuminated, and the USS Constitution Museum. The Old State House and Old South Meeting House are expected to be added to the roster of participating institutions later this spring, according to the city.
The city said the specific performances at the venues that will be open as part of Boston Family Days will be announced in the coming weeks.
Watch the mayor’s full speech below or read it here:
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